Pillowcase Dresses for Girls

Posted on June 19, 2013 by jewelsathome

These little “pillowcase” dresses have been catching my eye for a while. The style is very simple to sew, and the results are so cute! Not to mention that for growing kids, you can’t beat a style that will grow along with them!

For my birthday, Steve and I went to an amazing fabric store in Berkeley, Stone Mountain and Daughter, and among other treasures, I found this cute Japanese-style rabbit print.

I have a weakness for anything rabbit-themed for my little nieces, who were born in the year of the rabbit. You may remember the custom gift bags and silhouette Christmas ornaments that I made for them.

For the basic pattern, I used this tutorial from the Aesthetic Nest. I did alter the pattern in a couple of ways.

Here’s what you will need to make your own unique designs in size 2T:

1/2 yard of 45″ quilting cotton for the main fabric, if the print has no direction or runs across the width of the fabric. You will need 2/3 of a yard, if the pattern runs the length of the fabric.
1/4 yard of solid fabric for the tie
bias binding to match your main fabric
thread to match your main fabric and tie fabric

Instructions:

Prewash and iron your fabric
Fold the main fabric in half and cut into to two pieces that are 18″ wide x 22″ long each. You can see here why they’re called pillowcase dresses. It would be fun to find some pillowcases with a great design for dresses, though the pattern is usually oriented the other direction.
Cut armholes from the top corners: 4″ from the top and 2″ from the side, as show below:

Girl's pillowcase dress tutorial. Sweet and simple design | Jewels at Home

Cut armholes from the top corners of the front and back panels.

Next, join the front and back panels using a French seam:

First, with wrong sides together, sew a 1/4 inch seam along the sides of the dress (top left picture below).
Iron the seam open, turn the dress inside out, and sew a 3/8″ seam with the wrong sides facing (top right picture below).
Turn the dress right side out again, and you can see your dress taking shape (bottom picture below)!

To finish off the edges, start with adding bias binding to the armholes. I didn’t get good pictures of this with the dresses, so the picture below is from the pillowcase top I made for myself:

Open the folded bias binding and line up one edge to the edge of the armhole on the right side. Stitch along the crease nearest the edge.
Clip the seam allowance in the curve, to allow it to lie flat. Fold the binding to the wrong side and iron the binding flat.
Sew around the armhole to sew down the binding.

For the neck casing:

zig-zag the top edges of both panels, unless you were able to line the selvedge up here (top picture below)
Fold down 1 3/4″ from the top edge and iron (second picture below)
Fold back up 1/4″, so that you have a 1/2″ casing (third picture below)
Sew along the bottom edge of the casing and voila (bottom picture below)!

For the bottom hem, fold up 2″ towards the inside of the dress and fold back under 1/4″. Iron and stitch the hem in place.

For the tie, I started with two 3″ thick strips of fabric, each 42″ wide.

I joined the strips end to end (top left picture below)
I the folded open the joint and sewed the seam allowances down (top right picture below)
I finished the tie all the way around by folding under a 1/8″ twice and sewing it down. I didn’t measure this part exactly, but I did put a piece of painter’s tape down on my machine, to make sure I was keeping approximately the same finished width all the way (bottom picture below).

And here are the finished dresses! So cute!

Pillowcase dress tutorial | Jewels at Home

Pretty dress for a pretty girl!

My cutie niece in her birthday dress!

Happy 2nd birthday, girls!

Auntie “Jewels”

Decorate Aprons – Gifts for Dad

Posted on June 16, 2013 by jewelsathome

As I have mentioned before, Steve’s birthday and Father’s day are very close to each other, and most years, he gets a combined Happy-Father’s-Birthday-Day celebration. Last year, we went low-frills when I helped the kids make some creative cards for dad.

This year, we’re making some practical gifts with a personal touch – paint your own mugs and aprons. We did the mugs last weekend, while Steve was out for a long run, and they are cute!

Next up: aprons for our amateur Iron Chef.

To make the aprons, I used:

Uchida Fabric Markers (I also used these for the kids to decorate their own quilt blocks)
Plain aprons in Khaki, which I thought would hide stains better than white but still allow the colors to show up well.

I prewashed the aprons to shrink them and remove some of the sheen to help the colors stay. I then ironed them and pinned them on cardboard, to make it easier to draw. I made two templates: a “tie” apron and a “medal” apron, the latter because Steve ran the San Francisco Marathon on Father’s Day this year!

Then, we each added out own embellishments, and I love how unique the creations turned out to be.

Happy Father’s Day to a loving, patient, and inspiring guy! We love you!

“Jewels”

Decorate Ceramic Mugs – Gifts for Dad

Posted on June 2, 2013 by jewelsathome

Steve’s birthday and Father’s day always fall within the same week, and I am sad to confess that he tends to get short-changed with a combined Happy-Father’s-Birthday-Day celebration. Add to the scheduling issues the fact that we are often traveling around that time of year, and sometimes the best I can do is help the kids make some creative cards for dad.

This year, I am planning ahead just a little more, and we have two separate (gasp!) projects to make. Of course, I love doing something handmade, especially from the kids. But I also wanted to make sure that our gifts were practical and I think our projects- mugs and aprons – are perfect!

This morning, the boys and I decorated some coffee cups for Father’s Day – or his birthday – I haven’t decided which is which. This is a fitting gift, because a) Steve’s ability to function as a human being is closely tied to caffeine and b) we keep breaking our cups, so we need more. Not glamorous, but true.

Being an avid fan of Pinterest, I have of course seen the posts about decorating mugs with Sharpies. On closer reading of reviews, however, this might not be as durable as I ideally want. I did, however, find recommendations for these Pebeo Vitrea 160 Glossy Markers. They are meant for glass but also work on ceramics. The colors are very bright, and the markers are easy to use. The one thing I would mention is that these are really paint pens, meaning the paint can splatter, so wear a smock or something you don’t mind getting a few spots on. (Yes, I speak from experience. My cream-colored blouse was an unlucky wardrobe choice, but fortunately the spots are very small.)

We each decorated one of these White Ceramic Mugs and wrote our names and the date on the bottom.

I’ll be baking these to set the color when Steve is at work one day, and I look forward to surprising him with them in a couple of weeks!

“Jewels”

Decoupaged Mirror Frame (Ikea Malma)

Posted on April 14, 2013 by jewelsathome

These wide-frame mirrors from Ikea have so many possibilities! You could hang them as they are, of course, but what fun to decorate them with a tile mosaic, paint, or paper!

In setting a theme for our tween boy’s new room, I found this fun and colorful Heroes and Villains wrapping paper. I’m using it for some DIY pencil tins and also covered some Ikea Malma mirror frames for his wall.

This is an easy project. You’ll need a mirror, wrapping paper, Mod Podge, and a brush. I started by using painter’s tape (okay, I guess you’ll need that, too) to cover up the mirror in the center, so it wouldn’t get glue on it. (pictured below, left). I then spread a layer of Mod Podge over the mirror frame and carefully lay the paper on top, lining it up and smoothing out the wrinkles. (pictured below, right)

Decorating an Ikea Malma mirror frame. Decoupage with wrapping paper. {Jewels at Home}

Cover the mirror with painter’s tape (left). Spread Mod Podge over the frame and lay the wrapping paper on top (right).

To fit the paper around the mirror, I cut an “X” shape and then trimmed the paper with a craft knife (oh yes, you need that, too!). (pictured below, left) To wrap the paper around the edge of the frame, I cut squares out from the corners and then applied more Mod Podge and wrapped the paper around, smoothing out the wrinkles and bubbles. (pictured below, right)

Cut an “X” in the center and trim the paper with a craft knife (left). Cut squares out of the corners and apply the paper around the frame with the Mod Podge (right).

I finished off the mirror with a few coats of Mod Podge to seal the paper and give it a glossy finish. I hung the mirrors with my favorite Command Picture-Hanging Strips.

Here’s how the finished mirror looks:

And below are some pictures of the entire wall. Also featured on this wall are

DIY oversized wall initial
DIY art gallery clip frames, great for quickly rotating art and photos
Vintage Comic Calendar. They have several years of these beautiful calendars with different covers.

This sweet tween’s room is almost ready. His desk is on order, and I look forward to showing you the completed space, soon!

“Jewels”

Beach-inspired Kids’ Bath

Posted on March 29, 2013 by jewelsathome

The kids/guest bath was a part of our big renovation when we moved into the house. It was originally a Jack-and-Jill (aka Brady Bunch) bathroom with no tub, and like much of the house, it was pink! We wanted to turn it into a hall bath, which would be much more practical, especially because we were adding a new bedroom – the nursery – upstairs. The reconfigured area also allowed us to move the laundry up from the basement, which is vastly more convenient.

It’s a simple space with a feel that’s the perfect blend of classic and contemporary. Since its also a guest bath, and these little boys are fast becoming little men, I didn’t want to make the decor too cutesy. My original idea was to have a “Three Men in a Tub” theme, with a gallery of bath photos. Wet babies are so adorable, so why not a gallery wall in the bathroom? I still love that idea, but with our recent vacation in Hawaii, I hit on a beach theme instead.

As for function, there’s a lot of practicality in this small space.

When the architect first proposed the double vanity for a kids bath, I wasn’t sure it was necessary, but hubby, who comes from a family of four kids, assured me it would be put to good use, and he was right!

My kids never seem to successfully get their towels back on a towel bar, so I opted for these robe hooks. The adorable monogrammed hooded towels from Pottery Barn Kids were a gift from a dear friend when our youngest was born, and they fit perfectly here.

The Hawaiian “honu” sea turtles were ceramic coasters I found at a crafts fair in Honolulu, and our little family adds some color and whimsy to this wall.

And finally, some pictures of life by the water, to transport us every day. Every time JJ sees this wall, he yells, “Beach!”

A few more pictures:

Let’s make a splash!

“Jewels”

Ninjago Party – Part 2: Activities

Posted on March 12, 2013 by jewelsathome

This past weekend, we put together a fun Ninjago-themed party for our seven year old’s birthday. I already posted pictures and ideas for the decorations, food, and party favors, and here are some details on the activities that kept our army of Lego ninjas busy!

Sword fighting against Ninjago enemies

I bought these foam swords at Hallowe’en for L’s ninja costume. They come as a mixed set of pirate and knight/ ninja swords. The pirate ones could easily be altered to look like the ninja swords by trimming the handles, but my kids didn’t seem to be particular about it. Our kids have played with the swords quite a lot in the past few months, and I’ve been impressed by how durable the they are and also how it seems pretty much impossible to hurt someone or break something with them (and I’m sure our good fortune will end with that statement…). Despite the fact that no physical harm has ever been inflicted, the swords have been the cause of some arguments and whining, neither of which I felt were suitable for a party, so I decided to direct the boys’ energy toward targets other than each other.

Luckily, I had just been to Ikea to pick up a couple of things, so I had two large cardboard boxes to turn into training dummies for the party. The Skulkin skeletons and the Serpentine are the main enemies of the Ninjago (I learned a lot to put together this party!), so I made one of each out of plain newsprint and glued them onto the boxes, adding some embellishment with markers. They’re each about five feet tall!

Sword fighting targets for a Ninjago birthday party activity. Many more ideas from Jewels at Home.

Skulkin and Serpentine sword fighting targets for a Ninjago birthday party activity.

We set up the targets outside and let the kids take turns trying to knock them down. We quickly learned that we needed to draw a chalk line to delineate a “safe zone” for the kids waiting their turn, after the birthday boy got whacked by his older brother, who was aiming for General Skales. No harm done, but as I said, some – thankfully brief – tears and argument.

This activity was really beloved by our Ninjago guests. In retrospect, their war cries should probably have been saved for later in the party, as we may have woken some of our neighbors, but it was all in good fun.

Stick the ninja star on the Ninjago

For this activity, I made a bunch of these origami ninja stars and put 3M clear mounting squares on the back.

Origami ninja stars. Ninjago birthday party activity and party favors. {Jewels at Home}

Origami ninja stars for Ninjago birthday party activity and party favors.

I made a giant poster of Ninjago Lloyd ZX. It was very easy to print this image across multiple pages using a downloadable program called Poster Razor, and then I taped the pages together and and placed the outline of a ninja star in Lloyd’s hand. I laminated the front of the poster with clear contact paper, so the ninja stars could stick without damaging the poster.

Stick the ninja star on Ninjago Lloyd.

Not all the kids wanted to play this game, but those who did played over and over! We had to experiment with a few blindfolds and locations for the poster, as we had some very sneaky ninjas!

Each Ninjago guest got to take one of these little stars home, too.

Ninjago Skeleton Bowling

Lego actually makes a Skeleton Bowling set, so I took this idea and decided to make a life-sized version.

I was able to borrow this Little Tikes Totsports Bowling Set from our neighbor. I then printed two Ninjago skeletons side by side across regular sheets of paper and wrapped and taped the paper around the bowling pins.

DIY life-sized Ninjago skeleton bowling game.

I have to admit that the bowling game did not get a lot of attention at the party, although I suppose I can understand that the opportunity to whack things with swords was a bit distracting. Our toddler did have a lot of fun playing bowling the next day, though, as you can see. I think the kid has a future in pro bowling.

Finally, let’s not forget the Lego itself! While we may grumble about how commercialized it has become since our childhood, I still think Lego is one of the best toys. Our kids can be occupied for hours making their own creations. Not surprisingly, the boys spent a lot of the party just hanging out with this classic toy. Looking for Lego sets for your kids or gifts? I have found great Ninjago and other Lego toys at big discounts on Zulily.com!

Lego Ninjago birthday party.

Well that’s the round-up of activities and fun at our Lego Ninjago birthday party. Don’t forget to check out the previous post for details on the decorations, food, and party favors.

“Jewels”

Ninjago Birthday Party – Part 1

Posted on March 11, 2013 by jewelsathome

Pulling off a birthday party is like an athletic event (or at least I imagine it to be, not actually being athletic) – I work like crazy and then crash afterward. It’s always worth it to give our boys a day to remember. Here’s the first post on our seven year old’s Ninjago birthday party. I put details on the party activities in a separate post.

Ninjago birthday decorations

I still like the feel of a paper invitation, like the ones I made for our firefighter birthday party, but sometimes the convenience of an online invitation is hard to resist. Luckily, evite has this Lego-themed invitation, and I added a Ninjago drawing by our birthday boy, to complete the look.

Ninjago birthday party blog post with decorations, food, and activities, from Jewels at Home.

Customize an online invitation for your Ninjago birthday party.

For decorating the house, I hung our reusable birthday banners, customized with pictures of green Ninjago Lloyd ZX. I had in mind to do balloons with stuck-on Ninjago eyes, but I ran out of time!

Ninjago birthday party blog post with customized decorations and tons of ideas. {Jewels at Home}

Customized Ninjago birthday banner.

I printed signs for the activities using Bonsai font and mounted them on green scrapbook paper. Each child got a Ninjago eyes T-shirt to wear when he arrived. This was their main party favor, and the shirts were a hit! It was really fun to see all the little Ninjagos running around the house together!

I failed to capture the partying kids in any decent poses – they were moving too fast! but here’s the birthday boy’s little brother sporting his custom shirt. You don’t need to make your own shirts to have great Ninjago accessories. I have definitely picked up a lot of Ninjago and other Lego shirts and toys at great prices on Zulily.com!

Ninjago birthday food ideas

As you can see from the sign in this picture, I had wanted to arrange fruit into a Serpentine, one of the Ninjago enemies, but due to limitations of daylight savings time, I just piled the fruit on a plate, and it was all gone in an instant anyway – I told you those Ninjago are fast!

For lunch, we had a variety of Japanese and Japanese-inspired fare, including California rolls and avocado rolls from the local supermarket, homemade Spam musubi by Steve, and plenty of gyoza dumplings, which were the kids’ favorite.

Ninjago birthday party ideas, including decorations, food, and activities. {Jewels at Home}

Ninjago birthdy party food: gyoza, musubi, and rolls.

Instead of a cake, I made sushi using Rice Krispies. These Rice Krispy treat sushi are decorated with fruit roll-up for the “nori” and Swedish fish and fruit gummies for garnish. They were a lot of fun to make, though time-consuming. If you do it, I definitely recommend making a half batch at a time, as the Rice Krispy treats kept hardening before I could shape them all, and I ended up with several leftover globs.

Rice Krispy Treat sushi made from Rice Krispies cereal and candy. More ideas for a Ninjago birthday party at Jewels at Home.

Rice Krispy Treat sushi made from Rice Krispies cereal, fruit roll-up, Swedish fish, and other treats. So cute!

Tons of ideas for a Ninjago birthday party, complete with decorations, activities and food, from Jewels at Home.

Happy birthday boy at his Ninjago-themed party!

Ninjago Birthday Activities

These were a blast, and you can read all the details in this post!

Happy birthday to our dear son! I am glad it was such a fun day.

“Jewels”

DIY Ninjago Eyes T-shirts

Posted on February 13, 2013 by jewelsathome

Our Lego Ninjago birthday party is coming up, and I’m making t-shirts for all the kids as party favors.

I tried two different ideas for the shirts. First, I made stenciled ninja silhouettes for the older boys. Details on where I got the blank shirts and created the stencils are in that post.

Use contact paper and fabric paint to stencil your own T-shirts.

And for the younger kids, here’s how the cute Ninjago eyes T-shirts turned out:

Instructions for DIY Ninjago eyes T-shirts:

Create a template for the eyes and trace it onto contact paper. Cut out the template, including the eyebrows and eyes. I used a circle cutter – you could also use a large circle punch – for the eyes. You can print this image and enlarge or shrink it as needed:

Stick the contact paper onto yellow fabric, trace around the outside with a pencil and use black fabric paint and a stencil brush to paint the eyes and eyebrows.
When the paint dries, iron it on both sides to heat set the paint.

Iron Heat’n Bond Ultra Hold Iron-On Adhesive onto the back of yellow fabric.
Peel the backing paper off and iron the yellow fabric on to the T-shirt.
I used black puffy paint to outline the fabric, which also seals the edges to help prevent peeling and fraying.
Your design will last longer if you wash the shirt inside out.

Here are some close-ups of red Ninjago Kai and blue Ninjago Jay:

Besides red for Kai, and blue for Jay, I also made heather gray (because I’m not crazy enough to make a white T-shirt for a little boy) for Zane, black for Cole, and green for Lloyd Garmadon, the birthday boy!

Hope you’ll try some of these ideas and make shirts for your own little guys!

You can also always find great sales on Ninjago and other Lego shirts, games, and toys at Zulily.com!

“Jewels”

DIY Stenciled Silhouette T-shirts

Posted on February 1, 2013 by jewelsathome

Honestly, I don’t get tired of planning the boys’ birthday parties. This is different than saying I don’t get tired executing my own plans, which I do, but the ideas are so endless and inspiring, so I hang in there, and their happy faces are always the best reward!

This year, L wants a Ninjago birthday. I have to say that Lego’s marketing strategy is truly brilliant – combine Lego, a fantastic toy, with every possible boyish fad – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates, Lord of the Rings, and Ninjas! It’s irresistible, as the clutter in the boys’ room will attest.

I’ve mentioned that I try to do a larger and reusable treat in place of a goody bag of small items. This time, I wanted to make the boys Ninjago T-shirts.

You can actually find T-shirts for sale for a reasonable price, if you keep your party small, but 1) I wanted long-sleeved shirts, since our weather is temperate year-round and 2) I think everything is more fun when you make it yourself!

I got the shirts at BlankShirts.com. I’m not affiliated with them or anything – I just figured I’d share my research in looking for inexpensive blank shirts. You can get short-sleeved shirts for as little as $2. I got these long-sleeved ones for about $8. I’ve also found some on clearance at Lands End for as little as $5, but you won’t get the same range of colors there.

I’m trying two different ideas for the shirts:

stenciled ninja silhouettes for the older boys
ironed-on and painted Ninjago eyes for the younger ones

Here are the instructions for the stenciled T-shirts. I’m really thrilled with how well they turned out, and it was quite easy! I’ll post the Ninjago eyes when they’re done.

Choose a ninja silhouette from the Internet and enlarge it.
Tape the printed silhouette over some contact paper and cut it out with a craft knife. I was able to do two layers at once, to make two stencils. (top row of pictures below)
Stick the contact paper stencil in place on the shirt, with a piece of cardboard inside the shirt. (bottom left picture below)
Use a stencil brush or sponge to apply black fabric paint. Remember to use small amounts of paint at a time and “pounce” up and down, so paint doesn’t bleed under your stencil.
Remove the stencil. I was able to reuse it a few times.

Once the paint is dry, heat set the stencil with a hot iron. I used a thin press cloth on the front and then also ironed it from the inside. (pictured below)
Your pattern will last longer if you wash it inside out.

Yay! The pattern on these came out very crisp and looks great. I’m already thinking of other patterns to try!

More ninja-themed T-shirts coming up soon!

“Jewels”

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

Posted on January 13, 2013 by jewelsathome

I’ll admit I’m not the main cook in our family – thanks, Steve! – but I do have a few dishes that I rely on to get a good, healthy meal on the table, and this is one of them. Our whole family loves the taste of this take on Chinese sesame noodles, and I love that you can pack it full of veggies that the kids will eat. Since it can be served cold, it’s also a good meal to make ahead for hectic weeknights.

Ingredients:

For the noodles:

5 medium carrots
1.5 bundles buckwheat noodles
1 cucumber
2 stalks green onions
1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken meat

For the sauce:

1/2 cup tahini, peanut butter, sunflower butter or a combination of these
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp chili paste (I leave this on the side, when cooking for the kids)

Instructions:

Boil the chicken until cooked. Cool and shred
Shred carrots to similar width as noodles using mandolin or food processor. Boil until soft, about 10 minutes.
Slice cucumbers into thick strips with a mandolin or knife.
Slice green onions into long strips with a knife. Place in the bottom of a colander or sieve.
Boil noodles according to instructions. Drain in a colander over the green onions, to soften the green onions.
Mix all the above in a large bowl and then prepare the sauce (see below)

Here are the ingredients (sans chicken), waiting to be mixed:

Sesame noodles full of vegetables!

Mix the ingredients for the sauce together and then stir into the noodle mixture. You can serve this dish hot, cold, or anywhere in-between.

Asian sesame noodle recipe with lots of veggies the kids will eat!

H0pe you enjoy this addition to your family’s menu!

“Jewels”